Doll

This is an extremely interesting book. It’s sort of like Westworld. What if inanimate objects had feelings? Do you things that you do to them matter? I highly recommend this book I think a lot of people will enjoy it.

Doll is by far the most unusual book I've read in a long time. I was initially intrigued by the premise - a story told from the perspective of both a sex doll and her owner, and it did not disappoint!

There is a poetic beauty to the way Peter Leggatt writes, setting out this odd, unique and very modern relationship (of sorts) between the two key characters.

The story is captivating, heartbreaking and unsettling in equal measure, from the sadness for the Doll as she becomes conscious while still unable to move and begins to determine her limitations and purpose in life, to the insecurity and touch of madness from the owner whose perspective reminded me strongly of the narrator in Nabokov's Lolita.

The novel is split into only two chapters (one from each perspective) and it felt almost like a stream of consciousness, which made the story even more gripping - so much so that I devoured the whole thing in only 2 days! I do appreciate though that the complicated sentence structure may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Doll is a masterpiece of a debut novel and I would be very surprised if it wasn't on every Book Club reading list this Spring! Readers will go mad for it!

This is not the type of book I would normally choose to read, but I was part of a conversation about this book on social media and I became intrigued enough to give it a try. As expected, I was uncomfortable in some parts (call it the slightly prude part of me), but the intrigue and curiosity of the story still pulled at me to continue reading. The writing itself was also alluring; it was creative and descriptive, almost poetic. After a while, though, everything about the book changed - the flow, the writing, the story, the structure. It became fragmented and scattered and somewhat confusing. However, that aligns with what was happening in the book, it coincided with the metamorphosis and change. Definitely different, yet it displays immense imagination and talent.

“Sex, death, flowers-rivers, seas, sleep. They all have beds. This was my very first thought.” - Doll.


The first part is this story is told from the perspective of a sex doll. The second from the perspective of the man who owns her. The novel follows the thoughts of a sex doll as she comes into consciousness inside her crate and is about to be delivered to her owner, J. J opens the crate and what follows is a modern love affair, teetering between tragedy and the darkly comic, written in prose of hallucinatory beauty.

Thank you to NetGalley, Matador at Troubador Publishing, and Peter Leggatt for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I love reading books that are a bit on the unusual side, taboo, or a little mind-bending. When I saw the synopsis of this book I had to read it. This book does follow from the perspective of a sex doll, and her owner so there is a fair amount of sexual content but in reality the book is about so much more than that. The story is written with amazing, complex prose and is almost philosophical in nature. The narrative is written in a stream of consciousness style and debates topics such as one’s existence in life, purpose, and the way one changes or is changed by life and relationships. The main character also grapples with loneliness, insecurity, lost relationships, and longing. When you read into the story past the allure of the sexual content, there is a lot of deeper meaning and interesting aspects to ponder. This is a unique book and it will definitely stay on my mind for a while. This book is being released on January 28, 2021.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have to admit I"m not a huge fan of the cover. It's too plain considering the book topic.
The storyline is unique and isn't something I've read a lot of before. This book definitely won't be for everyone due to the subject matter. I mean, let's be real here, not everyone is going to want to read a book about about or narrated by a sex doll, haha. BUT if you're open-minded, check it out.

I'd definitely read more books by this author.

Book Review for Doll by Peter Leggatt
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Doll is certainly an original work, and that caught my attention from the start. I think the aspect that worked best was the two-perspective telling, as it was intriguing to see how the two characters viewed certain moments differently. Overall, this was a fascinating exploration of love and what it means, told in a manner at times visceral and at other times stark. Perhaps it's not a book I would rush to reread again and again, but it's one I am glad I read once, as it was certainly thought provoking. I would be keen to read more from this author in the future too. For me, it's a 4-star read.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Doll by Peter Leggatt is a book with such an unusual premise. The story is broken into two parts with the first being told from the perspective of a sex doll and the second from the perspective of her owner. The concept of this book was gripping and told through complex prose that was intense and unsettling. The book deals with themes of insecurity and loneliness and is both heartbreaking and captivating. I was surprised by this book and its depth. This book would be a fascinating read for a book club as there is so much to discuss and explore.

I received a copy of this ebook from the publisher via NetGalley which did not affect the contents of my review. All opinions are honest and my own.

This is an unusual book in that the story is being narrated by a sex doll and later by its owner. There were times when I kind of felt sad for the doll because she is wanting what everyone wants. I had a bunch of feelings as I read the book. At times the story gave me something to think about. I really enjoyed the book.

Doll by Peter Leggatt is an interesting read. I really liked the idea of the story being told from both points of view. I never thought I would sympathize with a doll, but I totally did. I felt for her, cried for her, and hurt for her. She wasn't just a doll, she became real for me. Her thoughts and feelings were the same as a real human woman's she just didn't have the ability to express how she felt or speak out about what she needed and wanted. The problem became that I felt for her so much, that I started to dislike the man in the story. While he couldn't know what she was thinking or feeling, he didn't treat her well in her eyes. This made it difficult when the story switched to his point of view, because I didn't like him and couldn't sympathize with him and didn't care what he thought of felt. Which maybe was the point of this story, it is hard to see things from both sides sometimes and we tend to choose one side over the other, in this case I chose the doll's side. I ended up not finishing this book, because I just couldn't get past everything that happened in the first half of the book. That being said, I really enjoyed the part of the book that I did read and I think that this is a good book, with a good premise. I would recommend it to others, it just wasn't the perfect book for me.

Doll is a rather unusual story about a love affair between a doll and its owner. The most curious book I've read for a while, I was initially attracted by the premise - a story told from the perspective of both the doll and "J" the man who bought her. The concept of it was intriguing and the complex prose used by Peter Leggatt in his writing made this a very intense read at times.

The first part of the book concentrates on the doll's perspective of occurrences and her emotions, while in the second part the reader learns a little about J and his experiences and interpretation. Although there is some crossover of events and happenings this did not interfere with my enjoyment of the story; in fact, it was intriguing to see how the two characters viewed certain incidences differently.

Captivating and unsettling from the sadness of the doll as she becomes alive but still unable to move and develops an awareness of her limitations and purpose in life, to the insecurity of J, Peter Leggatt's style made Doll seem like a rapid flow of consciousness, resulting in an even more mesmerising tale. All told, this début is a fascinating exploration of love and what it means, that is both powerfully and unsentimentally delivered.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Matador via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This was probably the most unique and original book I’ve read. The POV is something I’ve never ever seen done and I must admit I found it to be clever! Now, I loved the uniqueness of this book, but felt execution was lacking and therefore made of hard to keep my attention and want to finish! But I would recommend to those looking for an odd, unique and original story, as long as they don’t mind more mature themes!